Parents Bury Latest Child Victim of Illegal Immigration
Dave Gibson
September 12, 2008

On September 10, the parents of 3-year-old Marten Kudlis buried their son at Fairmount Cemetery, after he was killed last week, while waiting for his ice cream in a Denver Baskin and Robbins.

An SUV speeding through the intersection of Havana and Mississippi, with Guatemalan national Francis Hernandez at the wheel, slammed into a pickup truck, which was then pushed into the ice cream shop´s window. The toddler was sitting at a table in front of that window, and was sent flying as the truck came crashing through it.

After the crash, Hernandez jumped from his Chevy Suburban and fled the scene. He was later apprehended without incident.

Marten was taken to the hospital, but died a short time later due to massive internal injuries.

The two women in the pickup truck struck by Hernandez were Patricia Guntharp, 49, and Debra Serecky, 51. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.

KMGH of Denver covered the child´s funeral and reported that the first song heard during the service was Eric Clapton´s "Tears in Heaven."

In a heart wrenching display of grief and anger, Marten´s mother Marat Kudlis shouted: "That bastard!" referring to the illegal immigrant who killed her son. Between the tears, Marten´s father cried out: "I really loved him."

The rabbi conducting the service told the heartbroken family and friends: "This burden feels like more than we can bear because it is so sudden. It´s a parent´s worst nightmare. It does not seem fair and it is not fair to lose someone so young."

A teddy bear was placed in the tiny open casket which held Marten´s body.

Following the funeral, many of the mourners returned to the crash site, which has become a makeshift memorial, filled with flowers, stuffed animals, and cards with expressions of sympathy and support for the Kudlis family.

One of those mourners, Duane Stokes, told a KMGH reporter: "I helped pull Marten out of the building. I was right there with him. He squeezed my hand. I held his hand until he passed on. My fiance and I were just saying a prayer to Marten and just getting one last glimpse of everything around here. Just to say goodbye to him."

Marten´s death has hit the community hard and his funeral was attended by many people who never met him, but have been saddened and angered by his senseless death.

Hernandez who has no less than 12 aliases and two dates of birth, has been arrested 19 times since 2003. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation has also, confirmed that Hernandez has been arrested by nine different police departments. Despite his lengthy arrest record and illegal status in this country, Hernandez has never been deported nor have deportation proceedings ever been started against him.

The police report shows that after Hernandez ran from the scene and phoned his girlfriend, Brenda Aleman, asking her to come pick him up at a local Hooter´s restaurant. A court document reads: "(He) stated after the accident he was scared and fled the scene, he was afraid he would be taken to jail because he had no insurance, no driver's license and that would prevent him from seeing his kids."

Hernandez and Aleman have an infant and a 2-year-old

It should be noted that the Congressional Research Service has classified Denver as a "sanctuary city." The term refers to a policy taken by cities which refuse to inquire into an arrestee´s immigration status, or a refusal to inform federal authorities when a suspect in custody is believed or known to be an illegal alien.

A few days ago, Colorado Republican Congressman and former presidential candidate Tom Tancredo said that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, as well as Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter "have blood on their hands."

While both Hickenlooper and Ritter have long-been criticized for their opposition to tough enforcement of our immigration laws, Gov. Ritter has tried to deflect any attention from his office onto the federal government and called Tancredo´s comments "out of bounds."

Rep. Tancredo issued the following statement: "While it might be politically expedient to blame Washington for what happened this week or to characterize my criticism of him as ´out of bounds,´ the fact remains that Gov. Ritter is in charge of enforcing and keeping Coloradans safe. It´s time for Gov. Ritter to take concrete steps to ensure that illegal aliens like Francis Hernandez, who had been apprehended by police more than a dozen times, end up behind bars, not back behind the wheel."

As both the Democrat and Republican presidential nominees argue about such pressing matters as ´lipstick on pigs,´ our border remains unprotected and our children remain potential casualties of illegal immigration.

How many more of our children will have to die before our border and our laws are taken seriously by those sworn to defend both?
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/74010